Girl allowed to rejoin school bilingual class
Dec. 6: A 7-year-old Tucson girl and her parents filed a lawsuit challenging a state law that requires English immersion for most Arizona students. Oscar and Lizabeth Morales claimed in a lawsuit that the Tucson Unified School District denied their daughter, Jasmine, the equal opportunity to learn after the first-grader was taken out of a bilingual education class. The lawsuit cited district Superintendent Estanislado Paz for denying a waiver that would have allowed Jasmine to stay in bilingual education "I'm afraid that she will not learn English and Spanish, that she will not like school," Lizabeth said. Arizona school districts were forced to revamp their language programs after the passage of Proposition 203, which became law last year and eliminated bilingual education for most students in favor of English-only instruction. Morales said her daughter cries every morning before school and asks why she can't learn as well as the other students. "In class, she sits and she tries to learn, but she can't," Morales said. "I worry because I don't want her to stay in first grade." Now: Jasmine was allowed back in a bilingual education class last week. Paz said he approved her for bilingual classes after receiving additional information that qualified her for a waiver. He said that his decision had nothing to do with the lawsuit and that new procedures would be in place to ensure a speedier process for students seeking a waiver. Tom Berning, a lawyer with the William E. Morris Institute for Justice who is representing the Moraleses, said they would continue challenging Proposition 203, and will ask for compensation, including tutoring, to make up for the time Jasmine spent in the English-immersion class. "We are asking for the court to make a finding that Proposition 203 procedures or lack of procedures violates the parents' rights or ability to contest decisions made," Berning said. |